Editor’s note: This is the 14th installment in Finance & Commerce’s Top Projects Series of 2014. Previous installments are available here.

The seven-story Midway Village in St. Paul serves the needs of seniors of different income levels on the former site of the famous Porky’s drive-in.

Designed as a true “village,” the complex offers a salon, fitness center, water therapy pool, theater, pub, cafe, meeting rooms, activity spaces and even a jungle gym of sorts for seniors. A day care center for neighborhood children also gives residents a chance to mingle with a new generation on a regular basis.

“It’s been wildly successful since the day it opened,” said Episcopal Homes CEO Marvin Plakut. “It’s really put us on the map.”

Having a Metro Transit Green Line station just outside “has been a significant draw,” he said. Active seniors use the light rail line and their families use it for visits. Employees have easy access to work.

The exterior is a brick and light paneled facade mix with plenty of windows from which residents can observe University Avenue or a grassy outdoor patio.

It was the first “steel and concrete post tension project” Episcopal Homes has ever done, Plakut said.

Having the building constructed on a busy street “added some challenges,” he said.

Built following the state guidelines of SB 2030, Midway Village boasts several environmental attributes. Sustainability “was a challenging component” due to the urban setting and the wide mix of uses, said architect Mike Trossen of Trossen Wright Plutowski. Still, Midway Village still manages to consume 30 percent less than the state energy code requires, he said.

Expectations for Midway Village — the largest Episcopal Homes project to date — have been met. “Our vision for how we would use the space has come to pass,” Platuk said. “It has everything we wanted.”